The Warning

Sometimes when an actor flubs their lines the director will make them do another take. That was just a little piece of advice please feel free to ignore it if you want. If you ever saw Blair Witch then you've already seen this movie there is no need to watch it. I am writing this review 2/3rd's into the movie but if there is a scene with a threesome near the end I will edit this review. Fingers crossed.

"The Warning" is a creepy, but fun ride that proves "You can't go back home." Summer Moore plays Taylor Skye, a bitchy TV reporter whose main goal in life is to become famous. She returns to her hometown of Manitou Springs, Colorado, once labeled "The Satanic Capital of the Western World." There she teams up with her high school sweetheart and her "wannabe" best friend to investigate an urban legend that she hopes will make her a TV celebrity. They interview a host of local weirdos and relatives of persons gone missing during the "Satanic Panic" of the late 1980's. Exploring the surrounding wilderness in search of evidence of current Satanic worship, they encounter strange happenings that lead up to a dramatic climax.

Good recipe for thrills and chills, with a dash of "campiness" and comedy. Guaranteed to keep you out of the woods after dark!

I was lucky enough to catch an early screening of this and I was very impressed. A bitchy TV reporter returns to her hometown to shoot a pilot for a reality show investigating a local Satanic Cult. She drags her two best friends along and soon they are deep in the woods and completely out of their element.

The three leads are engaging and the mythology of the satanic cult was interesting and suitably creepy. I won't give anything away but the final act was extremely tense and genuinely had me on the edge of my seat. Good stuff! If you're a fan of found footage movies I definitely recommend it.

When it comes to horror films, I prefer psychological tension and crisis. I didn't expect to get much of this in a found footage film documenting satanic rituals. I was pleasantly surprised. The film does its job of providing the things that go bump in the dark scares and the creepy satanic ritualistic folklore, but it goes one big step further with the gradual unveiling of the three main characters' backstories. The film, and actress Summer Moore, also peel layer after layer back exposing a multi faceted reporter, Taylor. At first, she is the bitch you kind of hope to see die..then she has a vulnerability you believe. ..then she is back to her ambitious, get ahead at all costs ways. She is skillfully portrayed as a true anti hero. I had moments where I was a bit tense, moments where I laughed with the characters, and moments where I found myself wondering...and caring...what was going to happen next. These, to me, are the signs of a good film.

I mean, really? Surely if you want to make a new horror film you bring something to the table with you. Something inventive, original, creative, interesting. In short, something new. What you should not do is rearrange the leftovers of past classic horrorfests and present them as your own.

Here we have just that. Bitchy TV reporter, her dogsbody of an assistant and a cameraman proceed into the wild to track down a rumored Satanic cult. Surrounded on all sides by dangerous horror movie clichés they struggle through to the heart of darkness only to find .... but I'll leave that for you to discover. I had to suffer this tripe, now it's your turn! Best thing by far about the movie is the delightful Tiffany Joy Williams. Great looks and a capable actress, this girl could go a long way. I'm looking forward to seeing her again in films that allow her to better show her talents.